# Bowl preference: wide\shallow, narrow\deep?



## afiaowo (Apr 24, 2007)

I still haven’t pulled the trigger on my first briar. I thank you all for you input on Tsuge. As of now my cob is working just fine for me.

Having stopped by my b&m (very below standards) I was looking through the one basket of no names and noticed quite a difference in bowl geometry.

Is there a large difference in bowls in respect to wide\shallow vs. narrow\deep?

And, what do you prefer and why?

Thank you.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i prefer:
wide/deep. wide/shallow. narrow/deep. narrow/shallow. medium/medium, etc, etc.
depends on the tobacco you intend to smoke in it.

maybe sunday night i'll expand on my reply.


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## The Pirate (May 20, 2007)

Bowl size for me depends mainly on the tobacco to be smoked. This will vary from individual to individual. I prefer smaller bowls for Va. and VApers, especially flakes in this category. I prefer larger bowls for burley.
Shapes are a matter of individual preference too. I do not care for bowls that come to a sharp point at the bottom. These 'V' shaped bowls tend to crowd the draft hole and restrict the draw for me. I also prefer thick bowls over thin.
There is no way that anyone can tell you a hard and fast rule for bowl shapes and sizes. It is something that you must discover for yourself. And on you search you will no doubt purchase some pipes that turn out not to be so good. But that is part of the fun of smoking a pipe.
Ken


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## a.paul (Jan 17, 2007)

I guess one thing we can take from IHT's answer is that he likes pipes! LOL.

I don't really know what I prefer...except that I'm not crazy on tall/narrow or 'stacks' I guess they're called? But that's a personal aesthetic thing and nothing more.


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## pierredekat (Mar 7, 2007)

For most tobaccos and especially aromatics, I like I wide bowl, somewhere in the range of 15/16 diameter -- depth doesn't matter much to me as I'll often just smoke a half bowl in a tall pipe, or whatever.

I also have some medium size bowls in the 3/4 inch range that I smoke a few milder, less aromatic tobaccos in.

And I have a little Thom Thumb that I smoke a little "London Press" flake from the local B&M that's kinda like the hashish of tobaccos. :w

Anything more than a pinch of that stuff and your knees start getting a little wobbly.


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## Hoplophile (Feb 2, 2007)

I prefer VA's in smaller, taller/ narrow bowls, generally. It's not a hard and fast rule though... I have an old private label pipe from the Owl Shop (I think it is a Comoy's) in a wide pot shape that is a fantastic flake pipe. But my bowl shapes run the gamut, which I like. It's fun sorting out which individual blends smoke best in each pipe.


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## a.paul (Jan 17, 2007)

Hoplophile said:


> It's fun sorting out which individual blends smoke best in each pipe.


How do you have the time, foresight and memory to do that? I can barely remember which pipes I've smoked recently and the best I can do is sort out "latakia" and "no-latakia"...


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## Hoplophile (Feb 2, 2007)

a.paul said:


> How do you have the time, foresight and memory to do that? I can barely remember which pipes I've smoked recently and the best I can do is sort out "latakia" and "no-latakia"...


"...10 minutes to Wapner."
It's not nearly that systematic. I just tend to notice the difference if I smoke a particular blend through my rotation for a while.


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## LSU Tiger (Jun 9, 2006)

I prefer the Dublin shape in a larger size (group 5 to ODA), which works well for the burley/VA blends I smoke. The tapered chamber is the best going, IMO, for these blends. For VA/per flakes, my other weakness, I prefer a smaller bowl in the group 3 range and sometimes smaller. In such a small pipe, the shape of the chamber becomes less of an issue than capacity to keep the heat down and taste the tobacco.


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